The coffee giant is offering an expansive healthcare plan for its transgender workers. Starbucks collaborated on the project with a transgender health organization for twelve months.
The result of that partnership is a document called Starbucks Transgender Medical benefits.
For six years, the company has offered gender reassignment surgery for its workers.
Starbucks has a mixed record on social justice. The corporation was criticized in recent months, when one of its managers called police officers to arrest a pair of African-American men from a Philadelphia store. The move was widely condemned as paranoid and racist. The company was quick to apologize, and shut down its stores in May for specialized employee training.
According to the writer Anya Crittendon, “Transgender people experience suicide ideation at a much higher rate than the rest of the overall population. A proven way to reduce this risk is by allowing, encouraging, and respecting trans people’s identities. This includes calling them by their chosen name, presenting themselves authentically, and better access to healthcare.”